Blue Bell Ice Cream unveils first 4 flavors to hit Austin shelves

We’ll take any scoop we can get of Blue Bell Ice Cream.
Photo courtesy of Blue Bell Ice Cream

Break out your spoons: Pure frozen goodness, Blue Bell Ice Cream’s homemade vanilla, Dutch chocolate, Cookies 'n Cream and The Great Divide will soon be back in our lives. The three fan favorites will be among the first flavors to hit grocery stores when the Brenham-based company begins distributing its products on August 31.

The creamery, still reeling from a 2014 listeria meltdown at all three of its facilities and the mass recall of its products that followed, is back up and running, but at its Alabama plant only.

Thus, the company’s first output since April will be limited both in variety and in distribution (products will be distributed in five phases to 15 states with Houston, Brenham, Austin, Birmingham and Montgomery first in line).

This week, the company has been milking the release of its flavor lineup, rolling out just one per day via its Instagram account.

And while we’ll enthusiastically take any taste of Blue Bell we can get, the list thus far isn’t surprising. As CultureMap reported, an Alabama health department official told Dallas station WFAA that the only flavors officials tested in a truck were homemade vanilla and Dutch chocolate, the company’s best selling flavors. Cookies 'n Cream is the third most popular scoop.